Balanced Phillies system showing progress in camp

CLEARWATER, Fla. -- Phillies farm director Preston Mattingly has seen the analysis and the farm system rankings that typically place the Phillies close to the bottom of all 30 Major League organizations and from his vantage point, people might have that wrong.

“I think when you look at the top, there are the arms we have: Mick Abel, Andrew Painter and Griff McGarry, who has as good stuff as anybody in the Minor Leagues,” Mattingly said. “On the position player side if I just started with Logan O’Hoppe, Bryson Stott and Johan Rojas, those guys stack up as well. And that’s not even getting into the depth guys.”

Before accusing Mattingly of a familiarity bias that is an occupational hazard of being a farm director with a team for a long time, keep in mind the ink on his business cards has barely dried. He had spent five years with the Padres and came over to take the helm at the end of September. He got his feet wet in the fall but this is really his first indoctrination, so his evaluation is still somewhat objective, even if he knows part of his job is to speak up on behalf of his system.

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“A lot of this offseason was spent trying to get our staff in place,” Mattingly said. “My time here, in instructional league last year, at the Arizona Fall League and now in Spring Training, it’s about prioritizing our players, getting to know them on a personal level and obviously on a professional level out here playing. I’m just really prioritizing trying to get to know them as much as possible.”

He certainly seems comfortable in his new environments, making the rounds with an ease that belies his experience and time in the job. There’s a bounce in his step, perhaps because he’s really liked what he’s seen so far.

“I think it's been going really good, guys have brought really good energy,” Mattingly said. “Not being in this role, specifically in the past, I would come in from time to time and see mini-camp, but being here all the time, you see a level of focus these guys have and the desire they have to get better every single day. It's been really fun to watch.”

Camp standout: Erik Miller
Miller’s pure stuff has largely not been in question, not when he was a starter for nearly all of his three years at Stanford or when the Phillies took him in the fourth round of the 2019 Draft. Command of that stuff, now that’s been a different story.

As good as the 6-foot-5 lefty has been at missing bats, he struck out 11.1 per nine as a junior at Stanford and has whiffed 12.6 per nine in his brief time on the mound with the Phillies, commanding that stuff has been another thing completely. Miller walked 4.2 per nine in his college career and sits at 4.8/9 as a pro. Even during his relatively successful stint in the Arizona Fall League, he walked seven in 10 innings. That and the shoulder issue that allowed him limited him to 12 2/3 regular season innings in 2021 are the questions he’s been answering loudly in early sessions this spring.

“I saw him a little bit out in the Fall League and I saw him a little bit, actually, when I was out scouting, but it’s as good as I’ve ever seen him,” Mattingly said. “He’s up to 97 mph, the arm stroke looks clean. He’s healthy. He’s in a really good spot. I think this is a chance for him to go out and prove who he is. The breaking ball is tightened up, the changeup’s always been really good. He's a guy that could pop.”

But pop as what? Even heading into the Draft, some thought he was better suited for a bullpen role because of the command, and the injury likely only adds to that chorus. But Mattingly sees his repertoire and isn’t ready to give up on him starting.

“I don't want to put him in the bullpen yet, I think with the pitch mix he has, I think he has a chance,” Mattingly said. “With the way the game is trending, there are guys who are five-inning starters, but they are still starters. So he's a guy to keep an eye on. I think we’re going to give him every chance to start.

Something to prove: Casey Martin
Martin has long teased with his incredible raw tools. And he’s often struggled to turn them into consistent performance. He was productive in his first two seasons at Arkansas, showing off his exciting power-speed combination. He got off to a slow start in 2020 before the shutdown, with a high strikeout rate, a big reason why his first-round tools landed him in the third round instead. His first full season across two levels of A ball didn’t quell concerns, as he hit a combined .198/.291/.310, striking out in 28.1 percent of his plate appearances.

“He can do some things to impact a baseball game, whether that's his speed, his defense, and he has some power and hitability,” Mattingly said. “We've been really working with him this offseason. Number one, he's healthy. He had to heal. His ankle all year nagged him, got that cleaned up, he's healthy. And I think we'll see a different Casey this year.

“He caught my eye right away. When you see him out there moving around, he can run, he has some juice, he plays with great energy, too. He has a little bit of an attitude out there when he plays, which caught my eye a little bit as well.”

Prospect we’ll be talking about in 2023: Yhoswar Garcia
It took an extra year for Garcia to be able to sign, as the Venezuelan outfielder had to deal with a discrepancy with his reported age that led to him not being able to join a team until 2020, rather than the start of the 2019-20 international signing period. He was 18 when he signed in March, but the Phillies were thrilled to get him for $2.5 million. The pandemic certainly didn’t help his development as he had to stay home rather than come to instructs. He was understandably rusty in 2021 and didn’t do much in his 18 games with Low-A Clearwater (.570 OPS), though he did use his plus speed to swipe 11 bags. But there’s a lot more to unlock offensively here and he’s starting to really dig into that this spring.

“He’s really cleaned up his swing and had a really good mini-camp,” Mattingly said. “I think it's working on the lower half, making sure it was connected to the upper half. Get him into the ground, a bigger base. And he’s working on controlling the zone. And he's a guy that has had really good talent, but honing that in and really just helping him understand why he does certain things and what pitches to look for, and just educating him on that.”